technology trends that will shape the hybrid reality in 2022 and beyond

As we look ahead to 2022, we reflect on everything we have learned over the last year in regards to the pandemic and forecast how these insights will impact the future of technology.

We see a bright future ahead — one with more solutions for hybrid work models and a focus on technology as a force for good.

1. Work-from-home becomes work-from-anywhere 

We predicted last year that work-from-home would accelerate. Over the last few years, we have focused on mobility, user experience, and customer experience as we anticipated distributed workforces would continue to gain momentum. As people and companies think beyond the office, people and businesses will become smarter and more flexible. Remote work will become hybrid and work-from-home will become work-from-anywhere. Lenovo's research shows that 83% of IT leaders expect at least half of work in the future to happen outside a traditional office. As the next reality continues to take shape, technology will play a pivotal role in creating efficiencies and opportunities that transform our work and our lives, including:

 We will see more products, solutions, and services designed for the employee experience, considering the office as a destination for collaboration while protecting the sense of personal space people have experienced working from home. Audio/video technology and new office designs will make it easier to hold flexible meetings and forge new social connections.

  While artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to benefit us, we predict that its ability to remove background noises, such as barking dogs, ambulance sirens, and the neighbor's lawnmower, will be among its lesser known contributions to collaboration in the future.

With innovations like ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses that create interactive training experiences, multi-screen environments, and enhanced productivity, augmented reality (AR) will create immersive workplaces for employees no matter where they are.

 Other emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), natural language processing (NLP), spatial audio, sensors, world-facing cameras, and Lenovo's smart collaboration suite of tools, will continue to change how employees interact with technology and each other. The workplace and workforce concepts will be transformed in such a way that employees will be able to integrate seamlessly and succeed together.

 Spending on IT infrastructure will increase. With digital transformation and increased demands, they will rely increasingly on outsourced and managed services, which are increasingly backed by Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) IT acquisition models. With consumption-driven pay-as-you-go options, customers can focus on business outcomes while outsourcing the system-level support to a vendor or a cloud service provider. Our prediction last year was that DaaS would grow based on cost savings. This year, we see reducing complexity as the top driver for adoption of managed services and as-a-service models. 

2. Go ahead, forget your passwords 

Every app now forces frequent password updates - which nobody remembers - instead of everyone using favorite passwords. We will, paradoxically, be safer and our data will be more secure in a world without inherently vulnerable passwords. It's true that passwords need to be kept secret to be effective, yet to be used, they need to be shared. If alphanumeric strings are not created, remembered, held tight, and recreated regularly, then they cannot be stolen through phishing or while in transit on the Internet. Giant repositories of them can't be hacked, and they can't be bought and sold. Further risk due to password sharing, reuse, and human error will disappear, as well.

AI and improved sensor technology will enable seamless authentication instead. In the near term, public key infrastructure (PKI)-based device security, such as the one we use today to access our mobile banking applications, and multifactor authentication (MFA) will further reduce the reliance on passwords for application and device access. Instead, biometrics such as fingerprints, faces, iris, and voice will handle security. We will be safer if we abandon conventional passwords.

3. Tech for good 

We see technology as a smarter way for businesses to move forward, allowing them to improve their stakeholder relationships - including the biggest stakeholder of all: our planet.

Plastics, fibers, and metals that can be recycled will become more readily available for product development, as will bioplastics and materials derived from renewable sources like bamboo. Companies will be able to close the product lifecycle loop in this way. They will also be able to optimize their supply chains. Sustainable materials will also reduce the use of chemicals in the manufacturing process and help manufacturers reach carbon neutrality more quickly. The role of the IT provider will continue to change as we build in services and solutions that help our customers reduce the environmental impact of their technology, as well as support them in meeting their own sustainability goals.

We also see new technologies, such as AR/VR glasses, reducing carbon footprints over time. New technologies allow remote workers to be immersed into another site or location - reducing travel and reducing carbon footprint - and head-worn sensors can help the differently-abled. A combination of adjustable optics and magnification can make computer use more comfortable for nearsighted people. The displays will also respond to voice and motion sensors, allowing interaction without any motor skills required. Meanwhile, technology will enable major changes in how and where people live, work, and engage with their communities with the rise of flexible work. Formerly confined to large cities, knowledge workers will be able to work from anywhere. Corporate citizenship efforts can also be rethought and expanded by providing resources and time to employees willing to work and volunteer in remote locations.

4. Monitors are (finally) having a moment 

as they finally get the attention they deserve. Soon, the monitor will have all the features needed to be the next central hub for the office and home (not to mention the home office).

The multitasking capabilities of a display are enhanced through the integration of cutting-edge hardware and intuitive software solutions. Remote monitoring and asset management will be made easier with monitors.

With 5G and Wi-Fi 6, monitors will have a higher resolution, new aspect ratios, and built-in eye strain-reduction technologies, which will make them faster and wireless. As a result, desktop clutter will be reduced and thinner, more compact designs will be possible. Multiple monitor users will particularly benefit from this. Monitors will also complement devices beyond PCs, such as smartphones and gaming consoles, as well as extending functionality to devices like them. 

5. Fold them and hold them 

Our work-from-anywhere setups will increasingly feature portable and foldable monitors, allowing us to set up shop almost anywhere. Using OLED technology, screens can be folded, bent, or rolled so that they are portable and convenient.

Though we have seen some promising applications of this technology over the last year, as we noted in 2021, analysts now predict that the flexible display market will grow by 500% over the next five years.

As demand lowers the price point, flexible displays will come to other devices as well. As well as more flexible display options, expect new applications on digital signage, public transport, and smart home appliances.

6. Inputs get more intuitive

During the development of computers, everything was new and revolutionary: operating systems, monitors, mice, etc. Each brought with it new opportunities and possibilities. The keyboard remained the primary input method. That wasn't new, and it hasn't evolved that much either. 

Alternative input methods, however, have finally caught up. With more touch-intuitive interfaces, pens that provide haptic feedback for more tactile experiences, and voice-to-text features becoming defining characteristics of the new "keyboard," we will soon see more than evolution, but a transformation in computing inputs not only in their form but also in function.

Even more revolutionary, keyboards as we know them will disappear entirely in some cases. Many on-screen keyboards (OSK) with haptic capabilities and predictive artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) will eliminate the need for keyboards in the near future. In the near future, we will see AI creating text and communications using just a few keywords. Through these redefining characteristics, new ways of communicating, collaborating, and creating will emerge from business to education and beyond. By doing so, we will allow our mind, and the speed at which we think, to be the conduit through which we express our ideas - not just our fingers and the words per minute they can type.

7. Health is wealth 

The accelerated use of telehealth has been predicted for the past two years. We were right. Telehealth implementation has accelerated due to the pandemic. Consumers and healthcare professionals are increasingly accepting of these options, and that was missing then. Telehealth is no longer seen as a risk by patients and healthcare professionals - they embrace it. As wearables, voice assistants, and increased connectivity become the norm, we expect healthcare to move towards a digital model. Health insurance will become more affordable, predictive models will facilitate prevention, and wearable devices will provide proactive health recommendations.

The adoption of these technologies by patients will allow health care professionals, assisted by AI, to provide more accurate, virtual assistance to patients - and achieve better outcomes. Remote inpatient hospital rounding and remote home-based care will be impacted by virtual care. Patients will be able to access their vitals more easily, improve their compliance, and learn about health and lifestyle issues. With more efficient clinical workflows, evaluation tools, and workstation solutions, healthcare workers will also benefit. 

Last but not least, the advancement of AI technology will lead to a more personalized healthcare experience through precision medicine and targeted drugs. Scientists can, for example, apply AI analytics to genomic sequencing, medical sensors, electronic health records (EHR), and other data from individuals with the same diagnosis to better target drug therapies. Healthcare professionals can identify subsets of patients with similar genetic defects and develop drugs that are tailored to these patients' needs, thereby improving outcomes.

8. Ambient computing surrounds us all 

As device manufacturers refine user inputs, the IoT will continue to mature. NLP (natural language processing) and multi-lens enrichment will transform the user experience as we know it. One voice query will be answered by multiple devices simultaneously. The interaction with the device will become more rich with improved sensors, allowing users to accomplish old tasks in new ways, like scrolling, selecting, or providing feedback to the device.

Our device interactions will become more natural and more secure as the user interface changes. From the connected car to the connected city, and beyond, we will see more and more "connected" endpoints as adoption grows.

Our predictions for 5G last year were accurate. With technologies like 5G and Wi-Fi, we can connect even faster, so we can load the system without slowing it down. Device manufacturers will be able to incorporate ultra-nimble antennas into new products with better performance in a smaller form factor thanks to nanotechnologies.

9. Bigger and better entertainment experiences 

As real-time rendering approaches photo-realism (which is already occurring), we expect new forms of interactive movies to emerge in which the user can take part in the story and experience it first-hand. This is currently found in high-budget PC games, where the user interacts with a cinematic experience, affecting the narrative as a result of his or her choices. Interactive entertainment will soon move from passive to interactive.

We will also see the rise of affordable wearable displays as immersive content moves to small screens. The displays will not only provide a larger screen than a mobile phone, but will also allow users to view privately in public. Metaverse advancements will begin with this step.

We also expect that rollable or flexible monitors will change where and how consumers enjoy entertainment. Eventually, we'll see rollable "pop-up" monitors that provide unparalleled viewing for any space — from the train to the office. The display can be pulled out when needed and rolled back into storage when not in use. The monitors of the future will not only display productivity and remote collaboration, but will also serve as a center of entertainment, gaming, and connecting with loved ones with the best audio and video.

And that's not all. Increasingly, we may become a more active part of entertainment experiences, as everything from TV talk shows to the latest dramedy may unfold in our homes - or at least seem to, anyway. Such mixed-reality experiences will flourish.

10. Immersive gaming 

Last but not least, we can expect the gaming experience to become even more immersive, much like general entertainment. Portable displays and operating systems are improving in terms of performance and affordability.

Recent advances in connectivity will enable high-fidelity, low-latency graphics for more realistic video game gameplay that mimics physical movement when viewed through a headset. Despite being the latest sector to cut the cord, it will not be the last. Eventually, players will be able to experience gaming content within their environment as AR becomes more mature. Play tennis on a real court while sitting in the comfort of your own home. With the metaverse experience continuing to expand, we envision a big boom in gaming, socializing, and shopping via this platform, which will come with more sophisticated software libraries that bring all three together conveniently for a more enjoyable gaming experience.

However, patience is a virtue. In the next 12 months, we will make progress toward these capabilities, but it will still be a few years before we can confidently say they are finally on the horizon.